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Citadel Accepts 4 Women Cadets

July 25, 1996|By From Tribune News Services.

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA — Four women have been accepted as cadets at the formerly all-male Citadel military school, and at least one is planning to enroll this fall, a federal judge was told Wednesday.

"The Citadel is operating under the assumption that women will be there," Citadel lawyer Dawes Cooke told U.S. District Court Judge C. Weston Houck, who is overseeing the school's admittance of women.

Two of the women who have been accepted have indicated that they plan to attend school elsewhere this fall, but two others have paid non-refundable $150 room deposits. One is Kim Messer, 17, of Clover.

The hearing was the first before Houck since the Supreme Court ruled that the all-male admissions policy at Virginia Military Institute was unconstitutional. Two days later, The Citadel's governing board voted to accept women, ending its 153-year tradition of males only.